Health Disparities amongst African Americans

HEALTH PROMOTION: AFRICAN AMERICANS
Name:
Institution:
Course Code:
Date:
The current status of this group and how Race & Ethnicity affects its health.
Black Americans represent about 13.9% of the US population. This is the second-largest minority group in the country. However, the rampant racism in the country has led to disproportionate health outcomes, especially for this group, for centuries. This is the major factor that has led to health disparities in the country.’ health and ethnicity affect the health of this group, majorly because of racism. African Americans have endured the blunt of racism since they landed in the country as slaves centuries ago. Racism coupled with poor government policies have led to health disparities for the African American community.
Health disparities amongst African Americans
There are some chilling statistics about the health disparity in the country. For example, in 2017, studies showed that the uninsured rate was nearly twice (5.9% compared to 11%) compared to non-Hispanic whites CITATION Sof20 \l 1033 (Carratala & Maxwell, 2020). Additionally, chronic diseases are more rampant in African American people than any other racial group in the country, showing that about 80.6% of African American women are obese compared to 68.8 in non-Hispanic whites CITATION USD20 \l 1033 (U.S Department of Health & Human Services Office of Minority Health, 2020). Additionally, only 8.7 % of African American adults received mental health services. On the other hand, about 18.6% non-Hispanic white adults had access to mental health services. At the same time, the infant mortality rate for blacks in America is twice that of the national average. This minority group is one of the country's most disadvantaged groups due to systemic racism.
The nutritional challenges for this group
One of the ways of measuring and determining the health of a population is by studying their nutritional composition. Each community tends to take specific foods over others because of cultural and economic influences. In a study carried out in South Africa, pregnant women preferred cultural food that often was nutrient deficient because of taboos and practices associated with pregnancy outcome CITATION Cha19 \l 1033 (Chakona & Shackleton, 2019). The availability of these foods or lack of them determines the disease incidence, morbidities, mortality, quality of life, and other important metrics of health outcomes. Diet-related disparities have a large corresponding effect on nutritional profile. Economic factors play a large role in determining the nutritional composition of a community. For example, a study on dietary requirements for fruits and vegetables showed that non-Hispanic blacks were less likely to meet USDA guidelines than non-Hispanic whites (Brown et al., 2018).
The barriers to health for this group
Cultural barriers – One of the main factors that influence healthcare in black communities is their religious beliefs. Most African Americans are religious, and they put a lot of trust in their religious institution. The clergy influences the perception of healthcare through solicited and unsolicited medical advice to the people. For example, some pastors have been again...